SEPT 11 — If my friend, Pirates of Putrajaya had been a little bit more patient, he will find his views on the FGV vindicated. Probably he underestimated the will of the government to use GLCs under its control to shore up the FGV price.

Nevertheless, his views will be vindicated soon and I and millions of others hope he will come back into blogosphere to share with us, his rapier sharp analyses.

What Najib is doing right now is just putting out fires. He forgot that it all needed but a single spark to light up the prairie fire.

He has given an advance of RM15,000 each to Felda family. I hear, full payment hasn’t been given out yet. Perhaps Felda will use its gain of RM5.99 billion to pay the balance of what has been promised by Najib. Felda pays unto itself using its own money.Read the rest of this entry »

SEPT 10 — What is happening to FELDA now, illustrates the state of our democracy under Umno. Settlers and employees got 200.6 million of the 2188.9 million shares to be sold.

The people representing the majority and overriding interest are the settlers and the employees. There are 112,635 settlers and 3835 employees. These represent directly the interest of FELDA people. They are the majority on whose backs and on whose name, this listing was supposed to be done for and benefits meant.

A question to FELDA people. Why get only 200.6 million out of the 2.188 billion shares offered and own the same from the 3.6482 billion of the enlarged share capital? That’s 5.5 per cent of the interest in FELDA. What Najib Razak and the government are doing to you is just cosmetics.Read the rest of this entry »

JULY 5 — In practical sense, the term rent-seeking or rent-seeker or rentier classs, refers to the activity by some people in capturing offices of state and using the power of the state to capture economic benefits.

So, the rentier class consists of the people making use of their official and political positions to capture economic benefits. They get these benefits not by actually providing or actually producing a service or product, but by virtue of holding a political or bureaucratic position.

So what? So the above arrangement leads to disparities in income not due to natural abilities or difference in character. Such arrangement becomes objectionable and unconscionable when the disparities in income do not arise because of abilities or character.

The lazybones and laggards get ahead of the industrious and those more clever because they have found a way to cut corners by earning state positions. And so because of the positions they hold, in the offices of state, political positions and being proximate to the corridors of power allow them to get ahead of others.

Generally speaking, that is why some people are very critical of the New Economic Policy because it allows and perpetrates such “economic arrangements”. Those who get ahead are those having political and bureaucratic powers and their cronies and fronts. Read the rest of this entry »

Felda Global Venture is a rush job and has all the hallmarks of becoming a minefield for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

COMMENT

With a bottomless pit of scandals and irregularities, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must be off his rockers when he says he will win 14-0 in the next election.

But I know, the only time he has to say something like that, is when he knows the chips are down.

We know when Najib says he will win 14-0, it means Umno and Barisan Nasional are finished. Otherwise, with a score of 14-0, Najib should have declared election yesterday.

Let’s talk about the Felda Global Venture (FGV) which was listed on June 28.

Najib wants to rake in RM6 billion to pay his way through the next general election.

But did you know that know that only 20% of Felda top management supported the idea of FGV’s initial public offering (IPO)? Some 65% of the FGV staff thought FGV simply isn’t ready to list. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNE 4 — Every FELDA settler is an automatic member of their co-operative (KPF). KPF owns 51 per cent of FELDA Holdings, the business unit that is the rainmaker for FELDA. Has any settler asked what happens to KPF after the listing? Where is its 51 per cent in FELDA Holdings?

Did KPF get anything? If an EGM has taken place and delegates agreed to the transfer of KPF’s interest in FELDA Holdings and in 10 other subsidiaries, how was its stake in FH valued? Where did it go and how much stake does it get in the enlarged FGVH? I haven’t seen any clarification on this matter written anywhere. It’s as though KPF’s stake has vanished into thin air. Was this the reason Isa Samad came up with a statement that FELDA has allocated 20 per cent to settlers’ interest to be handled by a trust fund? Will KPF continue to exist?

Let’s be clear about this. We are not opposed to the idea of the settler receiving RM15,000 per household. The money is probably theirs anyway, derived probably from previous underpaid dividends. How many times have settlers gone before the courts demanding FELDA make good over its under-declaration of extraction rate on fresh fruit bunches (FFB)? Probably over the years, the value of the extra extraction ran into hundreds of millions. RM15k is probably a cumulative backdated under-payment to each FELDA household (112,635 of them).

The settler, especially the first generation, must think of the future by assessing what they are losing out. There is no way now second-generation FELDA settlers can lay claim on the 360,000 hectares of land managed by FELDA Plantations. All the land and the assets therein are leased to FGVH for 99 years. While FELDA probably gets payments on the lease, the lease rate is revisable every 20 years. They must also be mindful of the fact that they also lose about RM2.5 billion a year from earned revenues which are used to manage the FELDA plantations and provide social amenities. FELDA needs RM3 billion a year to run its operation. Read the rest of this entry »

I have to repeat this question. FGVH has not even been listed, the government of the day plans to give a total of RM15,000 to each FELDA household. The pop gets 5k first, then the mom and, finally, junior. Where did the government appropriate the money? Advances from the underwriting banks? From FELDA itself?

If the money is from FELDA coffers, then the FELDA folks must be suffering from a peculiar mental illness, the name of which I don’t know. But it entails a person feeling jubilant receiving his own money but given by another person.

If the money is not from the listing exercise, it must come from somewhere. So for what purpose was the money given? I have said it many times; Najib’s favourite way is to pay his way through. The FELDA settlers are no exception. Moreover there are 52 parliamentary seats to be won in FELDA areas. Sabah and Sarawak are almost certainly gone. FELDA is now the favourite political fixed deposit. Najib is pre-paying the interest amounts. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNE 1 — When Kenyesians dan Hayekians debate each other, they don’t debate on the science of economics as a science. As a science which studies the allocation of scarce resources among competing wants and needs, that part is settled. They debate on the bigger issue of how to manage the economy. Keynesians want to steer the economy while Hayekians want to set the economy free. One side thinks they can plan for others. The other side wants the planning to be done by many as individuals adapting themselves to the free market.

They debate on the efficacy of polices, whether managing aggregate spending or freeing the market is better in order to increase income. Controlling aggregate spending suggest some control over the aggregates, whether consumption, investment or government spending. Who controls them? The answer: the government. Control suggests the omnipotence of government and of course governments all over the world like to control things.

Hayekians support the free market, relying instead on the actions of individual economic actors with motivations and self-interests (what interests the individual) to make the economy work. Free market does not mean free from government involvement absolutely. Rather, government’s scope is limited over a few matters such as keeping peace from within and without. Government’s role is that of an umpire and the umpire must be neutral.

Our government of course supports the Keynesian approach without a doubt. They are adherents to the dictum, we are Keynesians now. But here is where the similarities end. While in western economies, the focus is on actually seeing the economy succeed, the emphasis in our country is different. The focus here is to concentrate steering power into our hands as much as possible, so that in the name of guiding the economy, the state plays the role of allocating resources to who they think can advance the economy. The state assumes omnipotence stature. And because of this status, they get to choose who succeeds and who fails.

We are digressing too far I am afraid. We can already anticipate the headlines. “We must avoid what happens to Greece. In order to do that, we must spend more. To hell to those who complain of increasing public debt to GDP share. If we cut spending, the economy will contract. The opposition is stupid. They are just following the IMF’s prescriptions.” Read the rest of this entry »

MAY 18 — Prime Minister Najib Razak last week announced a “windfall” of RM15,000 to each Felda settler family.

The planned payout is to come from the initial public offering of the Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH). As part of the IPO of FGVH, Felda will be disposing 1.21 billion of its current FGVH shares at RM4.65 each, and from which Felda stands to make RM5.62 billion if these are fully taken up.

Ahead of the share sale to be held by June, Felda settlers have been given an assurance by Najib that the listing would yield profits. He had also lashed out at those opposed to the scheme, saying that they are merely trying “to confuse” the people.

At this stage it is not clear yet who is trying to confuse the settlers or other Malaysians since the planned IPO is a highly complicated transaction whose full details have not been thoroughly unravelled and evaluated by professional market analysts. This is because many analysts are fearful that they may antagonize the government and end up on the wrong side of the authorities.

Felda accounts for around 18 per cent of the country’s total palm oil output. The idea behind FGVH is to turn this newly created corporate entity into a “global conglomerate”. Read the rest of this entry »

MAY 15 — Readers who are interested in reading more vigorous analyses on FGVH are advised to read The Pirates of Putrajaya in the English language here and in Bahasa Malaysia here. I am offering a less rigorous analysis here as I feel not as competent as the Pirate in technical matters.

Here is what irks me and I hope it does others too. FELDA settlers have given nothing but each FELDA household is promised and given RM15,000 each. For what? In return for a promise to vote UMNO and BN in the next elections? And a gnome of the FELDA chairman says it’s not corruption. The RM15,000 must be called as what it really is: the price of each settler as seen by the PM. It’s bloody corruption.

MAY 10 — FELDA settlers were described as “shedding tears of joy” by Bernama Online following the prime minister’s announcement that they were to expect a windfall of RM15,000 each following the listing of FELDA Global Venture Holding (FGVH).

Let me simplify the issue at hand. This is a bare knuckle fight between the bad guys (FGVH) and the good guys (the settlers). Let’s face it, if Najib sides with the settlers he would ask FGVH to issue 80 per cent of the shares to the settlers and settlers’ interests. Instead the settlers get the smaller portion while the bulk goes to his corporate buddies.

What did he agree to? This man who proclaims people first, performance this and that? Close to two billion shares are offered at RM4.65 per share which will see FGVH collecting some RM9 billion. How is the earnings distributed? Sixty per cent to the minister in charge of FELDA who is Najib. Forty per cent to FELDA? Out of the RM3.6 billion, FELDA uses RM1.69 billion to pay the durian runtuh? And the remainder has to be used to pay off debts owed by FELDA such as the RM3 billion to EPF? Then how much is left with FELDA to run the business that it owns?

Is RM400 million a year sufficient for FELDA to finance its operations and carry out its social responsibilities in FELDA schemes involving 220,000 people? Read the rest of this entry »

Indulging in corruption, cronyism and nepotism is not what a leader who “listens” to his people does.

COMMENT

Trusting a politician is the hardest thing to do; the risk is not just worth it. So when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak says he will listen to the rakyat in choosing candidates for the 13th general election, it is too good an assurance to hang on to.

Is it not Najib who keeps “cautioning” the people that he wants “winnable” candidates to contest in the looming GE? How then does the rakyat’s choice make a difference to him?

In his March 22 interview with DJs Sam Mak and Tan Yi Hui in the one-hour 988 Street VIP programme of the 988 FM radio station, Najib said he would have to listen to the people when it comes to choosing candidates for the next general election.

“It is only right as a leader. I should listen to the people. So, therefore, I will make a decision that his or her time is up and should not stand as a candidate anymore,” were the premier’s words.

Najib is very right that he “must” listen to the rakyat, which he has not been doing. Indulging in corruption, cronyism and nepotism is not what a leader who “listens” to his people does. Read the rest of this entry »

MARCH 13 — Malaysians are learning a new political game- The Apology Game. The apologiser- in- chief is of course Najib Razak. He has said sorry for those undefined Umno wrongs. Maybe he is sorry he couldn’t plug the gaping hole that allowed RM 1.3 trillion to leave the country. Crooks associated with Umno embezzled money belonging to this country. Its financial mayhem. Saying sorry is sufficient.

Sources of regret

Maybe he is also sorry for the endless list of financial scandals that were caused by Umno. He is sorry for dismembering up the iconic MAS. He is sorry, for destroying the future of Felda. 5 years from now, when Felda doesn’t have the funds to manage and operate the 112,000 settlers in the Felda schemes, the government steps in making up for the loss in revenue. What was the cause of the loss in revenue in the first place?

MARCH 5 — The second episode of “Lord Of The Rings” may come on (if Rais allows after reading this).

Watch the flip-flopping schizoid creature Gollum in action. One minute sweet-talking, next minute venomous and scheming. Gollum (aka Preciousss) only wants the Ring. Because the Ring confers power to protect the Evil One. As Umno president, Najib has been flip-flopping from day one. His party has no winnable candidates.

That will explain all the forthcoming cheating at the polls of GE13. It will also explain all past moves and present manoeuvrings. If a party has to monopolise the mainstream media to obfuscate the rakyat and make use of a psych-op warfare unit to try and turn voters, you already know it is finished.

The Ring is to make sure Umno is returned to power so that we can get more cheap meat for the next five years?

Or for Felda settlers to sign off their fields, hearing sweet promises that those fields will never be taken away? After all, how can one move a fixed place? But never tell them that the ownership of the fixed place will change hands — for once in the market, who will own what will always be fleeting. That’s what markets are supposed to do. Read the rest of this entry »

MARCH 1 — The question we should ask all thought leaders of FELDA is this. Why should a loss-making business entity, be allowed to do a reverse takeover of FELDA holdings? FGV owns 49 per cent of FELDA Holdings which has been making money all the time. FGV hasn’t got a track record and has no standing at all to come out with this proposal in the first place.

FGV is the business unit formed while Datuk Bakee (who is now Sime Darby CEO) was in FELDA. The idea of forming FGV to carry out international businesses was proposed by Ethos Consulting group. That adds some flavour to the meal.

Can FELDA tell everyone, how much did FGV lose really? We were only told of losses amounting to RM500 million. One thing we do know is, FGV is consistent. It has CONSISTENTLY lost money for five consecutive years. Perhaps Datuk Sabri Ahmad can disclose fully and honestly, how much FGV lost during those five years. Maybe he has gone to the PM and reported everything is OK sir. Najib is pleased to hear that kind of story.Read the rest of this entry »

FEB 29 — We have two super humans in Malaysia. Each is said to be able to give guarantees. In the case of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he guaranteed the loan given to Tajudin Ramli to acquire 32 per cent share of MAS in 1992. The guarantee was in the form of an overriding indemnity provision to Tajudin Ramli protecting him from losses should he mess up the acquisition.

Now, that is the type of captain needed by Dr Mahathir to drive his NEP.

The current prime minister can also give guarantees. He can guarantee that when FGVH lists, the returns to Felda settlers will be assured. That means, while Dr Mahathir can walk on water, the current PM is given the attribute of someone who can control the free market.

Adam Smith, the man accepted by many as the Father of the science of Economics wrote about the invisible hand that regulates free enterprise. He got the name wrong. The invisible hand is Najib Razak. That superhuman attribute was given to Najib Razak by Felda chairman Isa Samad. Read the rest of this entry »